


From Now On Our Troubles Will Be Out Of Sight

by dreamersdeservebetter



Series: Clexa Oneshots [1]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Clexa family, F/F, Fluffy Clexa holiday stuff!, Gift for my Clexa Secret Santa, Modern AU, fish the dog - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-01
Updated: 2017-03-01
Packaged: 2018-09-27 15:55:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10030427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamersdeservebetter/pseuds/dreamersdeservebetter
Summary: It's another holiday season at the Griffin-Woods house, and perhaps it's time for the family to invite a pet into their home. But Lexa and the kids get a little sidetracked...





	

The bells on the front door jingle as Lexa enters the house, despite being muffled by the juniper wreath. She shuts the door quickly, but a swirl of snow still manages to sneak in. Knocking clumps of snow from her boots, the brunette quickly slips out of her heavy winter coat, reveling in the house’s warmth.

“I’m home!” She hollers, grinning when she hears the responding thunder of small footsteps down the hall.

“Nomi, nomi!” A tiny child in elephant pajamas streaks down the long hallway to be swept up in her mother’s arms and spun around, shrieking with delight. She has wild hair and green-grey eyes and a bubbling laugh that always brings a smile to her mother’s lips.

“Who let you out of the kitchen?” The woman teases, “Only food comes from the kitchen, I guess I’d better gobble you up! Omnomnomnomnom-”

Lexa lowers her head to her daughter’s dark curls, swinging her from side to side. She rounds out her assault by blowing a raspberry on the child’s cheek, at which the young girl laughs even harder.

“Nomi, I’m not a food!”

“Then. Why. Are. You. So. Sweet!” Lexa laughs, punctuating every word with a kiss and then lifts her up to sit on her shoulders, picking up her grocery bags and walking toward the kitchen. “Well if you’re not a food, then I guess you’re one of momma’s helpers! What’s she cooking up in there?”

“She’s makin’ a pie for gramma! Momma said it’s speshul an’ needs a lotta love, so she says everyone needs t’ help.”

“Your momma’s always right, Lyra, she can’t cook all this good food by herself!”

Lexa’s heart skips a beat when she walks into the kitchen and sees her wife. Clarke has her blonde hair tied up in a messy bun, the sleeves of her glitter-glue adorned sweater (a gift from Lyra last year) pushed up past her elbows, and a slight flush on her cheeks that deepens when she catches Lexa staring.

“Hi honey,” Clarke smiles as Lexa kisses her, and they laugh when they hear Lyra’s very audible, “eeewwwwww” from atop Lexa’s shoulders.

Lexa sets her down, and Clarke tells her to go find Aden in his room and ask if he wants to take a break from wrapping presents to decorate sugar cookies. At this, Lyra zooms off down the hallway again, leaving her parents to gaze fondly after her before turning back to the task at hand.

“You look amazing,” Lexa says, tugging Clarke toward her by the hem of her apron.

“Babe, you saw me before you left for the store!” Clarke giggles, kissing her wife again, this time a little longer.

“Well let’s just say I missed you.”

“At the store?” Clarke nods knowingly, “Was it because you needed me to help you pick out sprinkles, I know that’s a huge responsibility.”

Lexa grins, grabbing Clarke’s hand to spin her around, then dip her dramatically. Clarke gasps, clinging to Lexa and sighs into yet another of her wife’s kisses.

“Lexa Griffin-Woods, you charmer,” Clarke teases, pressing her hand to her chest. “You never fail to make me swoon.”

“I’d consider that a good thing,” Lexa straightens, allowing her wife to stand again, “As long as I’m there to catch you.”

“Good god Lex, you really can’t turn off the charm, can you?”

“Nope,” she answers simply, planting another quick kiss on Clarke’s lips before releasing her to unpack the contents of the grocery bags.

“So I got the three cans of whipped cream you wanted, seven types of sprinkles, more butter, some fresh berries, marshmallows and a pint of Cherry Garcia.”

“Ice cream? What do we need ice cream for?”

“You,” Lexa winks at Clarke on her way to the kitchen table to set her things down, “You always want ice cream when you’re stressed.”

“Oh my god,” Clarke exclaims softly, “I have the perfect wife.”

“That’s not possible, I do.”

They eye one another for a moment, then Clarke offers a solution.

“Not mutually exclusive, I suppose.”

“I guess we’re just perfect together.” Lexa rolls her eyes, nearly cringing at the sweetness of her own words.

“You’re damn right we are,” Clarke grins, bumping Lexa’s hip with her own before they go to set up the kitchen table for the Griffin-Woods sugar cookie decorating bonanza.

***

That night, the two parents lie together, satisfied in having cleaned up the colorful sugary catastrophe in the kitchen and put the kids to bed.

“Hey, so I was thinking that tomorrow afternoon you could take the kids out to do some window shopping and go to that pet shop downtown? Just so I can have the time to get some sneaky secrets wrapped up…”

“Of course, sweetie, Aden will be so thrilled to see the skating rink. I’ll take them to that diner on 37th. Am I actually looking to buy anything?”

“Actually, I was thinking it might be time to get the kids a pet, and they loved the fish at the pet store last time we went. So what do you think about surprising them by letting them pick one out tomorrow?”

“Clarke, they’ll be so excited. I’d love to.”

“I know!”

They fall into an easy silence, Clarke’s head on Lexa’s chest and the brunette’s hand on her wife’s shoulder, rubbing her thumb back and forth over her smooth skin. After a while, Lexa reaches over to turn off the bedside lamp and in the dark of the room, Clarke mumbles sleepily.

“Hey, I love you, you know that?”

“I do. And I love you.”

“I know.”

***

Chocolate chip pancakes eaten, dishes cleared, kids bundled up and bright eyed, ready to venture downtown.

It’s a beautiful day out, cold but clear with snow on the ground and blue skies above, and the kid’s excitement is infectious. So by 11 AM, they’re backing out of the driveway, Lyra blowing kisses to Clarke as the blonde woman stands on the front steps waving.

They do surprisingly little window shopping, the kids mainly content to take in the holiday transformation of the city. Lyra skips down the streets blissfully, pointing out the most heavily decorated buildings and making up sing-song stories about elves hiding in office buildings and the small miracles they perform. Aden is quieter but no less in awe of the spectacle, eyes wide and happy, especially when Lexa leads them to the plaza skating rink at the center of downtown.

She and Lyra sit on the benches, nursing insulated cups of hot chocolate and watching Aden fly by, swift and graceful. They cheer him on from the sidelines and his small smile warms Lexa’s heart. She notes that he’s gotten smoother since last year, and she takes a second to congratulate herself on this holiday season’s purchase of rollerblades in order to support his practice when they can’t make it over to the year-round ice rink.

When they finally make it to the pet store, Aden’s cheeks are red with cold and a tiny bit of wind burn and Lyra is bursting with excitement over the prospect of seeing animals. The double doors slide open smoothly as they approach, and the store is warm and well-lit.

“Hey, kids, I’ve got something to tell you,” Lexa begins, gathering them into a huddle and squatting down to meet them at eye level. “Momma said you’ve been really responsible and you’re doing a great job helping out at home and taking care of homework, is that right?”

“Yeaaah!”

“Yes, Nomi, we have been.”

“And she thinks it’s time for us to get a pet fish, what do you think?”

“YEAHHH!”

“Wait, really?”

“Yes, Aden, really,” Lexa smiles broadly, “Go on now, you know where the fish are, go take a look!”

At their mother’s prompting, both sprint off down the aisle toward the aquarium section at full speed, leaving her chuckling in their wake. Hands in her coat pockets, she walks past the rows of fish tanks, noting their prices and heads toward aquariums. When she gets to them, she finds the two kids wide-eyed, moving between the large glass tanks with excited whispers.

Smiling, she determines that this may take a while, and she pulls out her phone to send a quick picture to Clarke of the kids hunkered down next to a smaller tank containing rockfish.

**[Lexa 3:21 PM]**  
Think they’re excited?

Within a few minutes, her phone buzzes.

**[Clarke 3:24 PM]**  
They look so happy!

**[Lexa 3:25 PM]**  
They really are, this was such a good decision, honey

Another ten minutes pass and they are no closer to a decision, so Lexa suggests they take a break. Aden finds an employee and begins asking about the best goldfish care options, and Lyra leads Lexa over to the aquatic accessories to look at decorations for the tank that will make it feel like home for the fish.

Eventually, they end up wandering the store, getting distracted by the colorful budgies and substantial dog chew toy selection. Lexa is just turning a stuffed moose over in her hands when Lyra bolts off toward something at the end of the aisle, resulting in a rather worrisome chase past stacks of cushioned dog beds, Lexa calling out for her to slow down.

Normally Lyra is energetic, but she doesn’t run off like this and Lexa is a little breathless by the time she reaches her daughter.

“Lyra, sweetie, why did you do that?” Lexa’s worried tone is enough to regain most of Lyra’s focus as her mother kneels in front of her, taking her by the shoulders, but she’s squirming and still distracted.

“Nomi, there’s a puppy!”

“Lyra, I- There’s a what?”

“A puppy, Nomi,” Aden affirms, indicating a small, hastily thrown together enclosure containing one wiggling, wagging, muddy Golden Retriever puppy who seems very happy to see them.

“Huh,” Lexa releases Lyra, who quickly finds her way to the side of the enclosure. Aden lifts her up enough that she can lean over the barrier, her small hand instantly covered with wet kisses. “They don’t usually have dogs here.”

Lexa snags the attention of a passing employee and asks about the lone puppy.

“Oh, yes. Unfortunate case here, someone just dropped him off at the front of the store, we think he’s the last of a litter and they didn’t want to take care of him. It’s freezing out, but they just tied him outside. We brought him in after about fifteen minutes and left a sign telling them we’re keeping him warm, but they never came to pick him up. I’m not sure what’s going to happen to him now, the shelter’s full at this time.”

“No tags? Microchips?”

The employee shakes their head, sighing, “Nothing. We checked him after the first couple of hours, but he’s got no identification.”

“That’s a real shame, he seems friendly enough.”

“He definitely is. Your kids, I assume?”

“Yep,” Lexa smiles affectionately, and for a while they simply observe the two interacting with the happy dog.

“He’s sure taken to them, I haven’t seen him this worked up since he got here.”

“Mm, good with kids, I guess,” Lexa muses.

“I’ll leave you to it, then. Just grab any of us if you have a question,” The employee takes a few steps before turning back. “I, um. You wouldn’t want to adopt him, would you?”

“What?”

“We have the paperwork and licensing for it, and it’d only take a few minutes. Plus you’d get a discount on your puppy care purchases… Ah well, it’s a thought. Think about it and come find me at the front desk if you do happen to decide you want to take him home, alright? The name’s Maya.”

“O-okay. Thank you, Maya.” Lexa’s head is in a whirl with the new possibility. Would Clarke be alright with it? They have the space for it, after all. Lyra’s not too young anymore, and it could help teach them responsibility. Aden’s always liked dogs too… Clarke would be alright with it. Wouldn’t she?

“Hey, kids?”

Both of them turn to look at their mother, faces bright and happy, and Lexa’s heart overflows with the thought of how much joy this one puppy could bring the family.

“Do you like him?”

“Yeah!” They chime in unison, grinning when the barrier shakes slightly under the barrage of tail-wagging on the other side.

“What do you think momma would think?”

“‘Bout th’ puppy?” Lyra asks, mouth dropping open slightly, she whispers hesitantly, “Kin we take him home?”

“Well, what do you think momma would say?”

Both of them go quiet with thought, then Aden pipes up.

“It could help teach us responsibility. I can walk him when I come home from school and teach him how to sit still and listen.”

“An’ I could give him treats!” Lyra beams, then schools her features into a scrunched-up serious expression. “…But not too many or he’ll ruin his dinner.”

“Well, you’re right about that…,” Lexa trails off, only to be interrupted by her daughter’s imploring voice.

“Puh-leeaaaze nomi? We can adopt him, he needs a good fam’ly. An’ we’re for sure a good fam’ly. Kin we please bring Fish home to momma?”

“Fish??” Lexa bursts out laughing.

“You said we came here to get fish…,” Aden offers shyly.

Lexa’s last bit of resolve crumbles then. It’s such a perfect picture, Aden holding Lyra and the puppy still shimmying away in its ecstasy over the presence of the two kids.

“Okay- Okay! Come here,” She kisses the kids and tells them to start picking out a bed and chew toys while she finds Maya at the front desk.

It’s only a few feet away and she can see them running in the aisle, Aden carrying the armful of toys and Lyra putting one back every now and then, only to be replaced by another.

“Hi, Maya?”

“Yup, that’s me- Oh, hey! What can I do for you?”

“We’re taking Fish home.”

“Fish, ma’am?”

Lexa laughs, rubbing her hand over face. “The puppy. They’ve already named him.”

“A perfect fit,” Maya grins. “Let me get you his papers…”

***

Forty minutes later and a dazed Lexa is driving home with three shopping bags full of dog supplies and a worn out puppy curled up between the two kids. Aden is stroking the puppy’s ears and Lyra is singing a nonsense song to Fish in hushed tones.

When the finally pull into the driveway, it hits Lexa. _They brought home a dog. And Clarke will need convincing._

“Why don’t you two bring the stuff into the garage and I’ll go talk to momma about Fish?” The siblings nod in agreement before gently laying Fish down and going to retrieve their haul.

Lexa opens the car door to peek in at Fish, who gives a small “wuff,” blinking sleepy eyes at the brunette.

“C’mon, champ,” she murmurs, reaching her hand out to coax him forward. “Let’s get you cleaned up and inside where it’s warm.”

Fish yawns, shaking himself before climbing into Lexa’s arms and promptly snuggling into her, his cold nose pressed to her neck.

“Hey sweetheart, we’re home!” Lexa calls once she’s inside, extracting herself from her boots.

“In the front room, babe!”

Lexa takes a deep breath, then strides into the living room to face the consequences of her decision.

“Hey honey-” Clarke’s eyebrows pinch together, forming that crease Lexa has come to know as trouble.

“Babe.”

“Clarke, I-”

“Lexa.” A muscle tics in the brunette’s jaw.

“Tell me you didn’t just bring a dog home. Tell me you didn’t let the kids persuade you to adopt a dog.”

Lexa swallows audibly and Fish shifts in her arms, legs twitching in his sleep. “It was a group decision.”

“Babe, are you kidding me? A dog??”

“He’s a puppy,” Lexa answers meekly and Clarke rises from the couch, setting aside her book.

“Lexa! You had one job! ONE. JOB.”

“Clarke, sweetie, hear me out-”

“Does this look like what I sent you and the kids out to get, Lexa?”

The brunette gives her a shakey smile. “Say hi to Fish, sweetie.”

“Fish the dog.”

At this, Fish twists around in Lexa’s arms and upon seeing a new person begins wagging explosively and desperately trying to reach Clarke. For a split second Clarke seems unmoved, but then her expression softens and she silently gestures for Lexa to hand her the puppy.

“He’s a bit muddy, he was abandoned outside the pet shop,” Lexa murmurs.

“Then we’ll have to clean him up, sweetie.” Clarke lifts Fish into her arms and is immediately bombarded with kisses, and she struggles not to laugh as she carries him to the bathroom. “This conversation isn’t over, Lex. We’ll be talking about this tonight.”

***

At the end of the day, the kids are in bed and Clarke is in the living room, arranging the last of the presents under their tree while the radio plays softly in the background.

Her back is turned when Lexa walks in. She’s wearing the frumpy red and white knit sweater Abby gave her last year, blonde hair spilling in soft curls over the snowflake and reindeer pattern and she somehow looks good in it, a mystery Lexa has yet to solve. She turns to smile gently at Lexa, and only then does the brunette approach her. Lexa slips her right hand into Clarke’s left, bringing it up to the soft press of her lips, then she clasps her wife’s hand to pull her close. Her other arm wraps comfortably around Clarke’s waist, and Clarke’s arm automatically rises to settle on the taller woman’s shoulder, making Lexa smile.

_…Through the years we all will be together…_

The radio sings quietly, serenading the two women wrapped up together in a tender dance, foreheads almost touching. The room is dark except for a warm glow from the string of lights tangled in the tall pine’s branches. They sway together, Clarke’s eyes fluttering shut at the familiar lyrics Lexa sings in a hushed voice, just for her.

Eventually, they end up closer still, Lexa’s cheek brushing Clarke’s. Clarke sighs contentedly, any last bit of tension from the day’s events dissolving, and her breath tickles the Lexa’s ear. It’s then that the brunette murmurs, “You’re not still angry about Fish, are you?”

Clarke pulls back, Lexa’s hand releasing hers, to find green eyes searching her face, worry creasing her wife’s brow. She holds out for a second longer before chuckling, shaking her head slightly.

“Oh sweetie, I was never really mad. I knew we’d get a dog sooner or later, Aden has been wanting one since he was four,” She rolls her eyes affectionately at the way Lexa’s expression softens into relief and adoration, “Though it might have been nice to get a little more warning. It’s more than a little hectic this time of year, babe. And you should have consulted me in any case.”

Lexa laughs sheepishly, running a hand through her dark hair, and Clarke drapes her arms around the taller woman’s shoulders.

“He just looked so sweet, I can never resist that,” Lexa looks at Clarke, the tenderness in her gaze making Clarke melt. “You know that more than anyone.”

“Cheesy,” Clarke beams, her eyes shining, “But passable.”

“You like it.”

“I like you.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too, Mrs. Griffin-Woods.”

Neither knows who makes the first move, but their kiss is long and sweet, one of many in another year of love and laughter.

**Author's Note:**

> From my tumblr- My Clexa Secret Santa gift for the lovely @gayyalexdanvers. Go follow her!


End file.
